Rising shuttler P.V. Sindhu made history Friday, becoming the first Indian woman singles player to ensure a medal at the World Badminton Champion-ships, while a podium finish remained elusive for Saina Nehwal as she suffered a straight-game defeat.
Before Sindhu, Prakash Padukone won a medal in the World Champion-ships back in 1983 when he bagged a bronze in the men’s singles event in Copenhagen, while the women’s doubles duo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini
Ponnappa claimed another bronze for India in London in 2011.
Playing in her maiden World Championships, 18-year-old Sindhu, seeded 10th, scored an upset win over local favourite Shixian Wang to enter the semi-finals. She took just 55 minutes to get the better of her World No. 8 seventh-seeded Chinese opponent 21-18 21-17.
Saina was erratic and went down tamely 21-23 9-21 in a 40-minute match against South Korean Yeon Ju Bae.